Michael Mabee, author of “The Civil Defense Book” blogs on critical infrastructure protection and threats, community preparedness and civil defense. Follow Mike’s blog for updates.
GridEx bottom line upfront GridEx is a biennial exercise run by North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC). The latest iteration, GridEx IV, was held on November 15-16, 2017. Most Americans have never heard of GridEx and didn’t even know it was taking place. If fact, most people don’t really have a clear understanding of what…
Civil defense gradually morphed into emergency management. There are several good documents that give us the history of civil defense in the United States. Here is one from FEMA and here is an interesting manual (FEMA 107) from 1986. (Thank you to the Civil Defense Museum for making this available to us!) It can be hard to parse…
Why has so little critical infrastructure protection passed congress? I just don’t get it. I mean, I understand why Congress is struggling on health care and tax reform. The reds and the blues have different opinions and different philosophies and apparently nobody wants to compromise. I get that. It’s the same on a lot…
The EMP Commission’s Untimely Demise The Commission to Assess the Threat to the United States from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack (the “EMP Commission”) was established on October 30, 2000 by Public Law 106–398, Title XIV. It was allowed to “sunset” on September 30, 2017. As of this writing, the EMP Commission’s website is down and their reports…
Why we should listen to Dr. Peter Vincent Pry Dr. Peter Vincent Pry has impressive credentials. He served for 10 years with the as an Intelligence Officer with the Central Intelligence Agency responsible for analyzing Soviet and Russian nuclear strategy. He served on the staff of the on the House Armed Services Committee (HASC), and…
We have always had hurricanes. We always will. In one very important way, Hurricane Katrina and Hurricane Maria were both best case scenarios. Prior to Hurricane Katrina hitting New Orleans in 2005, we knew that the levy system was only built to handle a category 3 hurricane. And prior to Hurricane Maria hitting Puerto Rico,…
The second edition of The Civil Defense Book is out and available on Amazon! Updated and expanded with new material, this is the only plan available for communities to survive when they are on their own. According to the U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security in 2017, millions of Americans—perhaps the majority of the population—would…
What we learn from history is that we do not learn from history I’ve always loved this quote from Benjamin Disraeli. But it occurs to me that perhaps what is more dangerous than not learning from history, is learning from history. What most Americans have learned from their experiences with blackouts is…
Arizona EMP Law A new law signed by Arizona Governor Jan Brewer on April 25, 2014 will require the Arizona Division of Emergency Management (ADEM) to prepare the citizens of Arizona for an electromagnetic pulse (EMP): The division shall develop preparedness recommendations for the public regarding the type and quantity of supplies, including food, water…
Civil Defense: Why We Need It Here are two undisputed facts: FACT: The electric grid is extremely vulnerable to a variety of natural and man-made threats. FACT: A long-term loss of the electric grid would be catastrophic for the U.S. Everything depends on the electric grid. Food, water, fuel, sanitation, medical services, the economy and…
